25-26 sept eng

25 September

Government Chawngfiang Middle School won U-14 sub-junior Subroto Cup Football Tournament

Government Chawngfiang Middle School of Mizoram on 24 September 2015 won the sub-Junior (Under-14) title of the 56th Subroto Cup International Football Tournament. In the final held at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi, it defeated Esteqalal School of Afghanistan 3-2.
With this win, Chawngfiang Middle School claimed the purse of 2.5 lakh rupees while Esteqalal School claimed 1.25 lakh rupees and a trophy.

Air Marshal BBP Sinha presented the trophy to the winners while Mizoram Chief Minister Lalthawala presented the cheque to them.
Beside this, the Subroto Education Society also offered 25 promising players in the Under-14 section 15000 rupees each, a one-time scholarship. There were several awards and rewards in different categories for the best efforts by the sub-junior boys during the tournament.
Awards
• Best Player – Chhunga Hmar (Mizoram)
• Best Coach – Lalthawmmawia (Mizoram)
• Best Goalkeeper- Lallamkima
• Most promising player – Uday Shankar Bora (SAI)
• Fair Play Trophy – Namchi Sports Hostel, Sikkim

Former Indian Cricket Captain Sourav Ganguly appointed President of Cricket Association of Bengal

Former Indian Cricket captain Sourav Ganguly was on 24 September 2015 appointed as the President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). The announcement regarding this was made by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat building in Kolkata.
He succeeded Jagmohan Dalmiya and at the time of appointment Ganguly was serving CAB in the capacity of Joint-Secretary.

The post had fallen vacant after the sudden demise of Dalmiya at the age of 75 on 20 September 2015.
Besides, Dalmiya’s son Avishek Dalmiya was inducted as one of the two Joint-Secretaries, replacing Ganguly. Subir Ganguly will continue as the other Joint-Secretary while Biswarup Dey will continue as Treasurer.

Marathi-film Court picked as India's Official entry to 88th Oscar Awards by Oscar Selection Jury

Amol Palekar headed 15-member Oscar Selection Jury on 21 September 2015 selected Marathi-film Courtas India’s official entry to 88th Oscar Awards.

The film directed by the first-time director Chaitanya Tamhanhe will represent India in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Filmed on a shoestring budget of 3.5 crore rupees, the film takes a close look at India's dysfunctional judicial system - where cases drag on for decades even as the accused impatiently wait for judgment to be delivered - through the eyes of a folk artist.

Awards won by Court

Court has already picked up several prizes in India and abroad. It was adjudged the Best Feature Film at the 62nd National Film Awards in March 2015. It subsequently went on to win as many as 17 international awards.

At the Mosiac International South Asian Film Festival, it was declared the winner for Best Fiction Feature Film and Best Cinematography. It also won the best film award at the Indian film festival, Stuttgart.

Every year a jury under the Film Federation of India (FFI) selects the Indian official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The FFI is an apex body of the Indian film producers, distributors, exhibitors and studio owners, headquartered in Mumbai.

West Bengal Governor KN Tripathi got additional charge of Governor of Tripura

West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was appointed as Governor of Tripura by the President Pranab Mukherjee on 24 September 2015.
He will discharge the functions of the Governor of Tripura, in addition to his own duties, during the absence of Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura who has gone on leave.
Keshari Nath Tripathi was appointed as the 22nd Governor of Bengal in July 2014. Earlier in November 2014, he was also appointed as Governor of Bihar to perform the tasks of Governor of Bihar in addition to his own duties of West Bengal.

He was relieved from his previous additional charge of Bihar in August 2015, after Ram Nath Kovind was on 8 August 2015 appointed as Governor of Bihar.
According to article 153, there shall be a Governor for each State but the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act 1956 facilitated the appointment of same person as governor for two or more states.

Union Home Minister released a Graphic booklet on Sardar Post

Sardar Post, Rann of Kutch: Known for the epic battle of 1965 lndo-Pak War fought by CRPF
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on 24 September 2015 released a graphic depicting the valour and sacrifice of the CRPF personnel during the battle of Sardar Post, Rann of Kutch in the 1965 lndo-Pak War.
On 9 April 1965, at the Sardar Post in the Rann of Kutch, two companies of CRPF stood their ground and repulsed the attack of full-fledged Pakistani Infantry Brigade inflicting heavy casualties.

The retaliation by the CRPF men was such a profound shock to the Pakistani Army that they left behind 34 dead bodies including 2 officers. Four Pakistani soldiers were taken as prisoners. Six CRPF men made supreme sacrifice for the cause of the nation.
CRPF has planned to publish a series of graphic booklets depicting various tales of valour and sacrifice of the Force. The booklets will be published with an aim to instill patriotism and nationalism in the young generation and also to let the people know about the gallantry and sacrifice of the unsung heroes of CRPF.
The force also planned to raise funds through marketing of these booklets, which will be spent on the welfare of the families of martyrs.

Bombay High Court stayed the implementation of Circular on Sedition

Bombay High Court on 22 September 2015 stayed the implementation of the circular on sedition that was issued in August 2015 in Marathi.

The circular was issued on 27 August 2015 to prevent misuse of Section 124 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with sedition and laid down certain conditions required to be considered for initiating action against a person under it.

The order, a setback to the Maharashtra government, was issued by a division bench of the HC headed by Justice VM Kanade.

In its order, it asked the state government to not to implement the circular till 20 October 2015 and asked the state to file a reply to two petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the circular.

Further, it stated that, if the state fails to file its reply by 20 October, the court would treat these petitions, as uncontroverted and decide them at the admission stage itself.

Grounds on which circular was challenged?

The circular was challenged one by famous cartoonist Aseem Trivedi and three others while the other one was challenged by advocate Narendra Sharma. According to them, the circular is unconstitutional and violated fundamental rights of citizens because

Some clauses of the circular issued were vague and contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court as well as High Courts.
Circular allegedly said that any citizen criticizing a public personality or a politician is responsible of an act of sedition. This ambiguity can be misused by the state against an individual citizen for fair criticism of politician or public personality and or against a fair criticism of their policies.
Circular, which is meant to prevent misuse of Sec 124A IPC does not mention even the basic ingredients required for invocation of this provision of law against any person.
Clause 1 and 2 of the circular does not even mention basic ingredients of sedition, that is, words (spoken or written), signs or representations must be made with object to overthrow or subvert the government (central or state) established by law by "violent means", by creating feeling of contempt or hatred or disaffection against it or by bringing or attempting to bring into hatred or contempt towards it or by exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards it.
Clause 1 and 2 of the circular also does not mention that "apprehension or anticipated danger" must be based on reasonable ground that the danger apprehended is real and imminent.

The circular of August 27 was issued following the release of the cartoonist Trivedi and dropping of sedition charges against him. He was arrested on 8 September 2012 under Section 124A of IPC on sedition charges for cartoons published on India Against Corruption website.

Indian film Angry Indian Goddesses voted first runner-up at the 40th Toronto Film Festival

Indian film Angry Indian Goddesses, a story about a group of Indian girls in Goa gone wild, was voted as the first runner-up at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) which concluded on 20 September 2015.

The film directed by Pan Nalin was voted as the first runner-up for the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the festival.

Angry Indian Goddesses is a powerful portrayal of new girl power and women empowerment in contemporary Indian society.

Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Canada. Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the world.

Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission issued Notification for Solar PV Net Metering

In a bid to promote green power in the state, Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on 22 September 2015 issued gazette notification on installation of net metering system of rooftop photo voltaic (PV) solar power units.

With the issuance of the notification, solar power can now be harnessed by domestic as well as commercial power consumers.

As per the notification issue, with the installation of new meters, eligible applicants can get credits for their solar power and adjust them against their normal bills for electricity supplied by respective distribution companies anywhere in the state. A net meter can record import as well as export of power.

Promoting solar power is a state policy, however, lack of regulation for grid connectivity made its actual implementation by common users difficult.

A roof top unit may involve one-time investment starting from around 1 lakh ruppes for 1 KV producing 150 units a month. Consumers using around 500 units or more in a month can find solar units economical as they end up paying a high rate of 8 to 10 rupees a unit for conventional power.

Ministry of External Affairs appointed envoys for Pakistan, China, UK and other countries

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 24 September 2015 appointed new Indian envoys to Pakistan, China, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United Nations (UN) in a major reshuffle.

These appointments are:
• Navtej Sarna: Secretary (West) in the Ministry, will be the new High Commissioner to the United Kingdom with effect from November 2015. He succeeded Ranjan Mathai.
• Gautam Bambawale: India's Ambassador to Bhutan will take over as High Commissioner to Pakistan. He succeeded TCA Raghavan, who will retire on 31 December 2015.
• Syed Akbaruddin: Additional Secretary in-charge of Indo-Africa Summit to be held in October 2015 will be the next Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, New York. He will replace Asoke Mukerji.
• Vijay Gokhale: India's Ambassador to Germany will be the Ambasador to China. He succeeded Ashok Kantha.
• Anil Wadhwa: Secretary (East) will be the new Ambassador to Rome.
• Pankaj Saran: He will replace PS Raghavan as the Ambassador of Moscow.
• Harsh V Shringla: Indian Ambassador to Bangkok will now be serving as High Commissioner to Bangladesh.
• Sujan Chinoy: Indian Ambassador to Mexico will now be the Ambassador to Japan and replace Deepa Wadhwa.
While at the MEA headquarters, Amar Sinha and Amarendra Khatua will be the next Secretaries East and West respectively.

EPFO won Skoch Award for Smart Governance Initiatives

Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on 23 September 2015 won the Skoch Award for Smart Governance. It was awarded at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi for its initiatives on UAN Programme and Transformation of Social Security Agenda in India.
EPFO was also awarded two SKOCH Order-of-Merits, one for launching UAN for EPFO members and another for transformation of Social Security Agenda in India.

Skoch Smart Governance Award
Skoch Smart Governance Award is an initiative recognising top performing government organisations and organisations working with the government, operating at local, state and national level.
The award is given in the area of Health, Education, Rural Development/Panchayati Raj, Urban Development, Finance, and Security.
The award is given by the Skoch Group, which is a Gurgaon-based think tank dealing with socio-economic issues with a focus on inclusive growth since 1997. The Group was founded by Sameer Kochhar and he is the Chairman of the Group.
He is the author of acclaimed books like Defeating Poverty: Jan Dhan and Beyond (2015); ModiNomics: Inclusive Economics, Inclusive Governance (2014) and Speeding Financial Inclusion (2009).

SEBI fined PACL Limited 7260 crore rupees for illegal raising of funds

In its biggest ever fine, market regulator SEBI on 22 September 2015 imposed a penalty of 7269.5 crore rupees on Delhi-based property developer PACL Ltd and its four directors. PACL and its directors have been told pay the amount to SEBI within 45 days.

The four directors who have been penalised by SEBI are Tarlochan Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Subrata Bhattacharya.

It penalised the PACL for failing to register the company's collective investment scheme that mopped up thousands of crore from small investors. SEBI said that PACL made huge illegal mobilisation of money, leading to consequent profit to the tune of over 2423 crore rupees in a short span of less than one year.

The penalty was imposed under Prevention of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices Regulations which provide for severe to severe penalties for dealing with such violations.

Under SEBI norms, it can impose a penalty of 25 crore rupees or three times of the profit made by indulging in fraudulent and unfair trade practices and in the present case the regulator has imposed a fine equivalent to three times of the illicit gain.

The penalty follows another order by SEBI given in 2014 wherein PACL was asked to refund 49100 crore rupees it had collected from 5.85 crore customers through illicit collective investment schemes including in the name of purchase and development of agriculture land over a 15-year period.

The refund order was also upheld in August 2015 by the Securities Appellate Tribunal, where PACL had filed an appeal.

Forbes released list of India's 100 Richest People

Forbes on 23 September 2015 released the Forbes list of richest Indians. The list contains names of 100 wealthiest people of India with a collective wealth amounting to 345 billion dollars.
Industrialist Mukesh Ambani has retained the tag as India’s richest for the ninth year in a row with a net worth of 18.9 billion dollar.

Top 10 Richest in the list are

Rank	Name	Net Worth	Age	Origin of Wealth
1	Mukesh Ambani	18.9 Billion dollars	58	Petrochemicals, oil & gas
2	Dilip Shanghvi	18 Billion dollars	59	Pharmaceuticals
3	Azim Premji	15.9 Billion dollars	70	Software services
4	Hinduja Brothers	14.8 Billion dollars	-	Diversified
5	Pallonji Mistry	14.7 Billion dollars	86	construction
6	Shiv Nadar	12.9 Billion dollars	70	Software services
7	Godrej Family	11.4 Billion dollars	-	Consumer products
8	Lakshmi Mittal	11.2 Billion dollars	65	Steel
9	Cyrus Poonawalla	7.9 Billion dollars	74	Vaccines
10	Kumar Birla	7.8 Billion dollars	48	Commodities

India’s 100 richest list include names of four women who have a collective wealth of 9.2 billion dollar, which accounts to nearly three percent of the total net worth of all in the list. The four women in the list are
• Savitri Jindal – Chairperson of the OP Jindal group was ranked at 23th position with net worth of 3.8 billion dollars
• Leena Tewari - Chairperson of generic drugs maker USV Pharma group was ranked at 54th position with net worth of 1.9 billion dollars
• Indu Jain - Chairperson of India's largest media group, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd group was ranked at 57th position with net worth of 1.9 billion dollars
• Vinod Gupta - Wife of Havells founder Qimat Rai Gupta was ranked at 74th position with net worth of 1.6 billion dollars

The list also has entry of 12 debutants includes people like Rakesh Gangwal, the co-founder of Indigo airline; Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, the founder of Flipkart was ranked at 86th position in the list and others.
Binny Bansal (32) ranked at the 86th position is also the youngest entrant in the list. Brijmohan Lall Munjal (92), ranked at 27th position with the net worth of 3 billion dollars is the oldest person in the list.

Union Environment Ministry notified Guidelines on Sustainable Sand and Minor Mineral Mining

Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar on 24 September 2015 released Notification for sustainable sand and minor mineral mining.
The policy seeks forward to strike a balance between increasing demand of sand and sustainable sand mining practices. It may help in achieving the goal of sustainable development.
The new law and guidelines that will check illegal mining and allow serious, legitimate players to remain in business will be applicable from 1 January 2016.

Guidelines on Sand Mining and Minor Mineral Mining
• In order to mine an area, District Survey Report needs to be prepared for each district in the country, taking the river in that district as one ecological system. The report should be prepared with the use of ISRO, remote sensing data and ground truthing.
• For sustainable mining, it provides for mining out material only that much which is deposited annually.
• The District-level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA) headed by District Collector needs to be involved in the process and he will be assisted by the District Level Expert Appraisal Committee (DEAC) headed by Executive Engineer (Irrigation Department).
• Stringent monitoring of movement of mined out material from source to destination using information technology tools, bar coding, SMS etc.
• The movement of sand is controlled through Transit Permit with security features having Printed on IBA approved MICR paper; Unique Barcode and Unique QR code among others.
• The monitoring of mined out mineral, Environmental Clearance (EC) conditions and enforcement of Environment Management Plan (EMP) will be ensured by the District Collector and the State Pollution Control Board.
• The monitoring of enforcement of EC conditions can be done by the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the agency nominated by Ministry for the purpose.
• One EIA/EMP will be prepared for one cluster irrespective of number and size of mining leases in that cluster, if the area is more than 5 hectares. Area less than 5 hectare will be B2.
Exemptions
The guidelines exempt certain category from mining for the purpose of environmental clearance, like:
a) Extraction of ordinary clay or ordinary sand manually by hereditary Kumhars (potters) who prepare earthen pots on a cottage industry basis
b) Extraction of ordinary clay or ordinary sand manually by earthen tile makers who prepare earthen tiles on a cottage industry basis
c) Removal of sand deposited on agricultural field after flood by owner farmers.
d) Customary extraction of sand and ordinary earth from sources situated in Gram Panchayat for personal use or community work in a village
e) Community works like desilting of village ponds/tanks, construction of village/rural roads, bunds undertaken in MGNREGS and other Government-sponsored schemes
f) Dredging and desilting of dam, reservoirs, weirs, barrages, river and canals for the purpose of maintenance and upkeep, and the dredged material is used departmentally.

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull announced 70 million US dollar package to fight domestic violence

The Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull on 24 September 2015 announced a package of 70 million US dollar to tackle rising domestic violence in the country and declared violence against women as a national disgrace.

Key Features of the Package

• 36.5 million Australian dollars will be spent on expanding domestic violence alert training for the police, social workers, emergency personnel and health staff over three years.

• 20000 cell phones will be distributed among women to escape ongoing abuse.

• The Government will put in place GPS tracking technology which will help in monitoring abusers.

• 1.6 million US dollars will be invested on training hospital staff on assisting survivors.

• Domestic violence units will be created within existing legal aid centres, which would situate lawyers, cultural liaisons and social workers.

In Australia, one in six people have experienced violence from a current or former partner and reportedly, 63 women have lost their lives so far in 2015 due to domestic violence.

Violence against Women in Australia: Statistics

A research conducted by the 2012 ABS Personal Safety Survey and Australian Institute of Criminology unveiled substantial levels of violence against women in the continent.

• 36% of women had experienced physical or sexual violence from someone they knew.

• 15% of women had experienced physical or sexual violence from an ex-partner (the most likely type of known perpetrator for a female victim).

• For 62% of the women who had experienced physical assault by a male perpetrator, the most recent incident was in their home.

• 73% had experienced more than one incident of violence.

• 61% had children in their care when the violence occurred including 48% who stated the children had seen and heard the violence.

Reserve Bank of India relaxed Change in Ownership Norms of Borrowing Entities

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 24 September 2015 announced relaxation in norms that allow banks to upgrade credit facilities extended to borrowing entities upon a change in ownership, only if the ownership has been changed outside Strategic Debt Restructuring Scheme (SDR).

The Banker’s bank announced that the banks can treat loans to stressed companies that have undergone ownership changes as standard loans, provided the stress was due to operational or managerial inefficiencies.

The relaxation will offer more flexibility to banks to bring in a change in ownership of borrowing entities which are under stress due to operational/ managerial inefficiencies despite substantial sacrifices made by the lending banks.

However, RBI announced that the upgrade in the asset classification is subject a few conditions:

• As per the announcement, the new promoter should not be a person/entity/subsidiary/associate etc. (domestic as well as overseas), from/belonging to the existing promoter/promoter group.

• The new promoter should have acquired at least 51 per cent of the paid up equity capital of the borrower company.

• If the new promoter is a non-resident, and in sectors where the ceiling on foreign investment is less than 51 per cent, the new promoter should own at least 26 per cent of the paid up equity capital or up to applicable foreign investment limit, whichever is higher, provided banks are satisfied that with this equity stake the new non-resident promoter controls the management of the company.

Hajj Stampede killed more than 700 people in Mecca

A stampede at Hajj pilgrimage on 24 September 2015 resulted in the deaths of at least 719 pilgrims and injured around 863 people during the annual Hajj in Mecca. Among those 717 dead pilgrims, two were Indians.

The stampede was triggered when two large groups of pilgrims intersected from different directions onto the same street. The incident occurred near a T-shaped intersection of narrow streets in Mina, between Mount Arafat and the Grand Mosque when the pilgrims were performing the symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing stones at the three pillars.
Soon afterwards, the pilgrims were redirected away from the stampede site. An estimated 160000 tents are distributed across several camp sites in Mina.
Hajj Stampede of 1990
It is the deadliest accident to occur in the Hajj since the 1990 stampede. This is the second worst incident in 25 years to hit the annual pilgrimage. In 1990, a stampede inside a tunnel leading to holy sites killed 1426 pilgrims.
The stampede began when some pilgrims stopped in the middle of the air-conditioned tunnel and there was a rush outside with people pushing each other to escape 112-degree heat.
About Hajj Pilgrimage
Known as the fifth pillar of Islam, the Hajj is an annual pilgrimage in Mecca undertaken by Muslims at least once in their lifetime. As traditionally performed, it consists of a series of rites including the Stoning of the Devil which takes place in Mina, a district of Mecca.
The pilgrimage includes detailed rituals such as wearing a special white garment that symbolizes human equality and unity before God; a circular procession around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine surrounded by Mecca's Grand Mosque; and the symbolic stoning.
The stoning ritual is the last major ritual and is often regarded as the most dangerous part of the Hajj, with its large crowds, confined spaces, and tight scheduling. This ritual marks the last day of Hajj and observes Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest Muslim holidays.

Arvind Panagariya appointed as Sherpa for G-20 Summit

The Union Government on 24 September 2015 decided to appoint Arvind Panagariya, Vice President of NITI Aayog, as the Sherpa for the 2015 G-20 Summit. The Summit will take place in Antalya, Turkey in November 2015.

Sherpa is a senior official responsible for preparing the agenda for leaders to consider during the summit.

Panagariya will be replacing Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu who was appointed Sherpa for the G-20 Summit in 2014.

Earlier, the Deputy Chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission used to be the Prime Minister’s Sherpa for G-20 talks.

About Arvind Panagariya

Arvind Panagariya is an Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University. He also served as the Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank. He has also worked for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in various capacities.

What is G-20?

The Group of Twenty (G-20) was founded in 1999. It is an international forum for the government and central bank governors from 20 major economies. The forum focuses on promoting high-level discussion of policy issues related to the promotion of international financial permanence.

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM): India’s Pride

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on 24 September 2015 successfully completed one year of the mission life around Mars with a large data set acquired by all five payloads of MOM. On the occasion, Space Applications Centre of (ISRO), Ahmedabad launched a Mar Atlas.

The Atlas contains a compilation of images acquired by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and results obtained by other payload results in a form of scientific atlas. The images from MCC provided unique information about Mars at varying spatial resolutions.

It has obtained Mars Global data showing clouds, dust in atmosphere and surface albedo variations, when acquired from apoapsis at around 72000 km.
India's first interplanetary probe through MOM
Mars is one of the closest celestial objects to the Earth and it has attracted humans towards itself since the time immemorial. A large number of unmanned orbiters, landers and rovers have been launched to reach Mars since early 1960s. These missions had provided large amount of data on various scientific aspects of the Mars.
In 2014, India joined the club of space faring nations to explore Mars by sending its first planetary mission called Mars Orbiter Mission or popularly known as MOM. The MOM spacecraft, also known as Mangalyaan, arrived at the Red Planet on the night of 23 September 2014 just two days after NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution probe (MAVEN) reached Mars orbit.
Mangalyaan, which means Mars craft in Sanskrit, was the first interplanetary probe ever launched by India and its 73 million US dollars mission is primarily a technology demonstration. The MOM spacecraft was designed, built and launched in record period of less than two years.
Moreover, this 450-crore Mangalyaan mission is the cheapest inter-planetary mission that is just a tenth of NASA's Mars mission Maven that entered the Martian orbit couple of days before MOM. For India, it is the proudest moment to achieve such a victory.
Five Instruments of MOM
MOM carried five science instruments collecting data on surface geology, morphology, atmospheric processes, surface temperature and atmospheric escape process. These are:
•Lyman-Alpha Photometer (LAP): A photometer that measures the relative abundance of deuterium and hydrogen from Lyman-alpha emissions in the upper atmosphere.
•Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM):It will measure methane in the atmosphere of Mars, if any, and map its sources.
• Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA): It is a quadrupole mass analyser capable of analysing the neutral composition of particles. The heritage of this payload is from Chandra's Altitudinal Composition Explorer (CHANCE) payload aboard the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) in Chandrayaan-1 mission.
• Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS):It measures the thermal emission and can be operated during both day and night. It would map surface composition and mineralogy of Mars and also monitor atmospheric CO2 and turbidity.
• Mars Colour Camera (MCC): This tricolour camera gives images and information about the surface features and composition of Martian surface.
How MOM's success is interlinked with India's pride?
The Mangalyaan has been a 100-per-cent success after it was injected into the Martian orbit, where it has already completed some 120 orbits.
There is no doubt that the Mars mission has enhanced the national image when US President Barack Obama acknowledged that India and America are both countries that have reached Mars; in fact China also termed the success of Mangalyaan as Asia’s pride.

The Mangalyaan mission also made the country's name as the world leader in space as the US took note of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) capabilities. The United States, a country that tried hard to scuttle the ISRO in its early stages, now seeks to make it a partner.
Mangalyaan helped break the shackles. It is MOM's success that forced both ISRO and NASA to together build and launch an Earth Observing satellite called NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission to study climate change in another five years.
This truly Made in India Mangalyaan mission opened the eyes of the world to the fact that India is indeed a serious space-faring nation.

CCI cleared Heidelberg-Italcementi Deal

Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 24 September 2015 approved German firm Heidelberg Cement's proposed acquisition of Italcementi SpA.

In July 2015, the German firm had announced plans to buy Italcementi SpA through a transaction worth about 3.7 billion Euros.

As per the deal, Heidelberg will take over Italmobiliare's 45 percent stake in Italcementi and consequently make an open offer to other stakeholders. Italmobiliare SpA is the primary shareholder of Italcementi SpA with 45 per cent stake.

About HeidelbergCement

HeidelbergCement was founded on 5 June 1874 by Johann Philipp Schifferdecker, at Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is a multinational building materials company. It was the world's third largest cement producer in 2010.

About Italcementi

Italcementi is an Italian multinational company which was founded in 1864 in Bergamo, Italy. The company manufactures cement, ready-mix concrete and construction aggregates. It is the 5th largest cement producer in the world.

EU imposed anti-dumping duty on Indian water and sewage pipes for six months

The European Union (EU) on 21 September 2015 imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty of up to 31.2 percent on imports of water and sewage pipes made of ductile cast iron (also known as spheroidal graphite cast iron) from India for six months to protect its industry.

The European Commission in its anti-dumping probe has concluded that the material injury to the Union industry was caused by the dumped imports from India. On the basis of this conclusion provisional measures should be imposed to prevent further injury being caused to the Union industry.
While 15.3 percent provisional anti-dumping duty has been imposed on exports by Electrosteel Casting Ltd, there would be 31.2 percent levy on shipments from Jindal Saw Ltd and other companies.
The Commission also initiated an anti-dumping investigation with regard to imports into the EU of tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron, used for drinking water supply, sewage disposal and irrigation of agricultural land originating from India on 20 December 2014.
Background
The Commission initiated the investigation on Indian water and sewage pipes following a complaint lodged on 10 November 2014 by Saint-Gobain PAM Group, on behalf of producers representing more than 25 percent of the total Union production of tubes and pipes of ductile cast iron.
The complaint contained evidence of dumping and of resulting material injury that was sufficient to justify the initiation of the investigation. Following this, the European Commission initiated an anti-dumping investigation on 20 December 2014 on the basis of Article 5 of the basic Regulation.

Indian tribal woman Permila Tirkey won first discrimination-based Case in United Kingdom

Permila Tirkey, a tribal woman from India working as a maid in the United Kingdom, on 24 September 2015 won the country’s first caste discrimination case

She won the case against her Indian-origin employers Ajay Chandhok and Pooja Chandhok. Tirkey was discriminated against because of her low caste.
With this, Tirkey will receive compensation of 184000 UK pounds from Ajay and his wife Pooja for making her work 18 hours a day for an hourly rate of 11 pence.
The ruling was given by the employment tribunal in Cambridge which ruled that the Chandhoks wanted a servant in the Indian style.
The tribunal also found that the employers had also breached the European Union working time directive over her rest hours and annual leave. It ruled that she was a victim of unlawful harassment and indirect religious discrimination.
In addition to the compensation awarded by the tribunal, a further hearing to determine remedies for the discrimination and other matters will be held later in 2015.
Due to discrimination created by severe working conditions, Tirkey ended up leaving the Chandhoks job in 2013. She was recruited from Bihar in 2008.

26 september

Rear Admiral Sanjay Mahindru took charge as Flag Officer Submarines

Rear Admiral Sanjay Mahindru on 25 September 2015 took charge as Flag Officer Submarines. He succeeded Rear Admiral SV Bokhare.

As the Flag Officer Submarines, he will oversee the operations of INS Chakra S71- the lone nuclear powered submarine of the Navy, 10 Sindhughosh class submarines and 4 Shishumar class submarines.

In addition, he will oversee the ongoing construction/development of Arihant and Kalvari class submarines.

Achievements of Sanjay Mahindru

• He was commissioned on 1 January 85 and served 27 years in the Submarine Arm of the Indian Navy.
• Prior to the present elevation, he commanded a conventional submarine, frigate, destroyer before assuming Command of nuclear submarine INS Arihant, that is expected to be join the forces in 2016.
• Whilst serving ashore, the officer commanded the Navy's Submarine Training Establishment and been a Director at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi.
• He is an alumnus of prestigious College of Naval Warfare and has also completed the Staff Course in the United Kingdom.

UNGA adopted Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The 193-Member United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 25 September 2015 formally adopted the Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with a set of bold newGlobal Goals, that are a universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world.

The 2030 Agenda and the Global Goals were adopted during the UN Sustainable Development Summit that is being held at the UN headquarters in New York.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an agenda for people to end poverty in all its forms. It is composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years.
While, the Global Goals aim to build on the work of the historicMillennium Development Goals (MDGs), which in September 2000, rallied the world around a common 15-year agenda to tackle the indignity of poverty.
The agenda conveys the urgency of climate action. It is rooted in gender equality and respect for the rights of all. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world leaders and others to successfully implement the Global Goals or Agenda 30 by launching a revitalised Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, based on a spirit of strengthened global solidarity.
Highlights of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity.
It seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets of the agenda demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new universal Agenda. They seek to build on the Millennium Development Goals and complete what these did not achieve.
The goals and targets seek to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are integrated and indivisible and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental.
The agenda is determined to end poverty and hunger in all their forms and dimensions and to ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment.
It aims to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change.
It will ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature.

17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

End poverty in all its forms everywhere
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*

14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

The Revitalized Global Partnership
The revitalized Global Partnership will facilitate an intensive global engagement in support of implementation of all the goals and targets. It will bring together Governments, civil society, the private sector, the United Nations system and other actors and mobilize all available resources.
This Agenda, including its seventeen goals, can be met within the framework of a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development, supported by the concrete policies and actions outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda , which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda supports, complements and helps contextualize the 2030 Agenda’s means of implementation targets.

UNICEF unveiled Assembly of Youth digital installation at the UN headquarters in New York

A digital installation named as Assembly of Youth was unveiled on 24 September 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the USA. It was developed for UNICEF by Google.

It was unveiled by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador David Beckham, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake and two young people from UNICEF Voices of Youth initiative ahead of the UN General Assembly summit on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The purpose of the installation is to bring the voices of children and young people from across the world to the heart of the UN General Assembly.

Features of Assembly of Youth

• It harnesses mobile technology and social media to deliver personal messages from children and young people across the globe directly to world leaders.
• The messages highlight the challenges they face in their homes and communities - including extreme poverty, inequality, violence, deadly disease and conflict – and express their hopes for the future.
• The messages will inform and sensitize world leaders and motivate them to take appropriate action to transform the lives of millions of most disadvantaged children and young people.
• Data displayed in the installation is drawn from U-Report, a free SMS-based system that allows young people to speak out on the issues they face and what is happening in their communities.
• Data is also derived from outreach to children and young people across UNICEF social media channels.

About U-Report

• U-Report is a groundbreaking text-message based innovation, set up by UNICEF.
• It amplifies the voices and views of young people in developing countries.
• U-Reporters can share their opinions on everything from the job skills they want to the best way to tackle epidemics.
• This information is instantly mapped and analyzed, yielding vital information and real-time insights about how young people see their world and what they think is most important.

• These aggregated views are used by development partners in their advocacy with governments and also shared directly with elected leaders.

About Voices of Youth

Set up by UNICEF, it is a global community of youth bloggers from all over the world which gives young people the opportunity to learn about development issues and to express their opinions.

It seeks to create a space that will help young people develop into active global citizens equipped to communicate and collaborate effectively to make a positive difference in their countries and communities.

Shivinder Mohan Singh resigned as executive vice-chairman of Fortis Healthcare Limited

Shivinder Mohan Singh on 23 September 2015 resigned as the executive vice-chairman of Fortis Healthcare Limited. Fortis is a New Delhi based hospital chain.

After a brief transition period, he will be designated as non-executive vice-chairman of Fortis with effect from 1 January 2016.

He resigned from the position as he decided to take up full-time sewa at the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a philosophical organisation spread over 90 countries worldwide.

Shivinder, along with his elder brother Malvinder Mohan Singh, runs 55 hospitals under the Fortis brand across India. At present, Malvinder is the executive chairman of the company.

Apart from Fortis, the brothers own financial services firm Religare Enterprises Limited.

In 2008, they sold their 33.5 percent stake in Ranbaxy to Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo which they inherited from its founder Bhai Mohan Singh.

Matthias Muller appointed as CEO of Volkswagen Group

Matthias Muller was on 25 September 2015 appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Group.

He succeeded Martin Winterkorn who resigned following the revelation that the German carmaker manipulated US diesel car emissions tests.

Muller is currently Chairman of Porsche AG of the Group and a board member of Volkswagen AG that he will continue to hold until the end of February 2020 as per a prior contract.

He started his professional career with AUDI AG, a member of the Volkswagen Group, in Ingolstadt in 1978, becoming Head of the Systems Analysis Division in 1984.

Later, He assumed responsibility for Product Management at Audi AG, SEAT and Lamborghini in 1995.

Muller moved to Wolfsburg as Head of Product Management of the Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen brand in 2007 and also became a General Representative of the Volkswagen Group.

CSI released survey report on prevalence of cardiovascular disease in India

The Cardiology Society of India (CSI) on 25 September 2015 released a survey report on prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in India. CVD is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels.

It was released during the CSI Cardiac Prevent 2015 conference in New Delhi.

The purpose of the report is to inform policy makers, professionals in the health sector and the public at large about the prevalence of CVD in the country which is at present is the biggest health risk to the country.

In 2014, CVD accounted for around 30 percent for all deaths in the country.

Highlights of the report

• More than one-third of Indian adults have hypertension, of which 60 per cent people are not even aware that they suffer from the condition. At present hypertension is the biggest killer in the country.
• A whopping 42 per cent of the population is suffering from uncontrolled hypertension despite medication.
• 25 per cent of the people between the age group of 31-45 years suffer from undetected hypertension.
• Hypertension should not be considered a disease of the older people as among all the hypertensive people in the study more than two thirds are younger than 60 years of age.
• Hypertension prevalence, its pick up rates, and control rates are surprisingly equally poor even in states with better healthcare infrastructure like Kerala.
• It cautioned that widespread ignorance about risk factors of heart disease indicate a pressing need to raise awareness among the both urban and rural people.

About the survey

It was conducted across 24 States in nearly 200 urban and rural areas and more than 700 sites across all strata of society.

It covered over a lakh people involving 200 national coordinators and 7500 volunteers.

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 to apply on Muslims also: Gujarat High court

The Gujarat High Court on 25 September 2015 ruled that theProhibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006 will also apply to a Muslim person and the act will prevail over personal laws. The ruling was made by Justice JB Pardiwala.

The ruling held that the Child Marriage Act is a Special Actand it will override the provisions of Muslim Personal Law, Hindu Marriage Act or any personal law. Justice Pardiwala also observed that sixteen years is not an age for a girl to get married.
The verdict came when the court was hearing the case of a 17-year-old Muslim girl, who married Yunush Shaikh, who is 12 years older than her. Shaikh eloped and married the girl claiming that the Child Marriage Act won't apply to him as he is governed by the Muslim Personal Law.
The High Court rejected the petitioner's argument and ordered the police to probe the case under the provisions of Child Marriage Act.
The petition was filed by the Shaikh under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to quash an FIR filed against him under Section 366 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage) and Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of Indian Penal Code.
He was also charged with an offence under Section 18 of thePrevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
The Prohibition Of Child Marriage Act, 2006 provides for the prohibition of solemnisation of child marriages and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
This Act replaces the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 by repealing it. As per the act, the age of marriage for boys is 21 and for girls, it is 18 and any marriage of people below this age will be considered as a child marriage which is illegal, an offence and is punishable under the law.

China successfully launched carrier rocket Long March-11

China on 25 September 2015 successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket the Long March-11 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the north-western province of Gansu. The rocket carried four micro-satellites into space, which will be used mainly for testing.

This solid propellant rocket was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology with the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. The rocket will mainly be used for launching micro-satellites.
The Long March 11 launch is the 211th of China’s Long March series, following the first launch in April 1970 when a Long March 1 rocket had put China’s first satellite Dong Fang Hong-1 into the orbit.
The launch of Long March-11 was China’s eighth launch in 2015, following the missions sending three Beidou global positioning satellites the Gaofen-8, Gaofen-9 and Yaogan Weixing-27 earth observation satellites to the space.
On 20 September 2015, Long March 6 debut of China lofted 20 small satellites.

S K Sharma appointed as Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board

S K Sharma was on 25 September 2015 appointed as the Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) with effect from 25 September 2015. Sharma succeeded A B Agrawal, who was Chairman for a period of about five years.

A civil engineering graduate from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, Sharma joined Haryana irrigation and water resources department in 1980 as sub divisional officer.
While working in Haryana Irrigation & Water Resources Department, he has monitored various canal regulation related hydraulic structures, pump houses, canal and drainage network, NABARD projects etc. He has also handled training works on the river Yamuna.
During working as Chief Engineer of Beas Satluj Link (BSL) project, he has been instrumental in successfully running of dredger and other allied works, besides running and maintenance of BSL Water Conductor System.

Conference on contemporary relevance of Bhagvad Gita held in United Kingdom

The first conference on the contemporary relevance of the Bhagvad Gita was held on 25 September 2015 in London, United Kingdom. The conference was organised by Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and High Commission of India.

It was organised in collaboration with the Department of the Study of Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
The conference aimed to deal with the innumerable questions that exercise and confound through Bhagvad Gita and help to tap unique transformational energy.
The experts and historians from India and Britain got together for this two-day session which included aspects such as Bhagvad Gita and Yoga, Impact of Bhagvad Gita on Modern Sanskrit Writings and The Bhagvad Gita Timeless Values for Today.
The initiative of bringing together the delegation for the London conference was led by Suryakanthi Tripathi, former Indian ambassador to Spain.
About Bhagavad Gita
• Bhagavad Gita is one of the holy books which tell us the narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava Prince Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Krishna.
• Bhagavad Gita consists of 700 slokas. It presents a synthesis of Dharma, bhakti, moksha and raja yoga.